Mr. James Berg July 5, 1977 Page 2 ® Californians continue to build homes on seismic faults or live in areas highly prone to floods and mudslides. @ Residents in western Washington and central Colorado rebuilt their homes on flood plains. 6 Coal miners ® Kansans, continue to work in mines have a history of collapsing. Oklahomans, and Texans that rebuild farms, and hones in areas frequently hit by tornados. Floods, tornados, earthquakes and mine cave-ins are visible and real hazards. People can see the effects almost immediately after they occur. Radioactive contamination produces slow changes in metabolism, cell growth and respiratory areas of humans. There are exceptions to the nature of the effects, of course. Neverthe- less, the Marshall Islanders, like many underdeveloped societies, need to experience and visualize a risk before norms and mores can be built into their culture. That hasn't happened and unti effective procedures are developed to realistically communicate the risks, I anticipate communication and educational problems to persist. In itself communicating technology to an underdeveloped cultural groups is a complicated and delicate process; perhaps more thought and planning should be devoted to communicating the nature of onergy-related technologies to groups of this kind. In addition to this immediate problem, an assortinent of related issues comes to mind as follows: potential conflicts and adjustment problems of inhabitants generated by the rehabitation process; consequences of possible radioactive contamination; and agency commitment to monitor and assess rehabitation. The soil on Enewetak is low in nutrients making agriculture a nonviable form of subsistence. A retrun to fishing 1s almost a necessity. Yet, as pointed out below, few Know or remember the skills required. The period of transition for the Enewetakese Will indeed be troublesome. I think the Enewetakese and Bikinians know this and are somewhat confused about the consequences of their desire to return. I'm certain they have been told that they should reclaim their homeland from the federal government since it was theirs in the beginning. « The experiences of thirty years ago suggest some inconsistencies. For example, families who never experienced iife on the atoll will experience similar kinds of adjustment problems as their parents